Position Paper 2

Climate change has been an increasing problem for life on Earth. Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, have contributed to greenhouse gas emissions for decades, and has caused global temperatures to rise (NASA). Consumers have gravitated toward more sustainable practices in order to decrease their carbon footprints. This includes purchasing products from companies that are labeled ‘sustainable.’ The problem with this, is that those same companies might be taking advantage by ‘greenwashing’ their products. 

Greenwashing is exactly what it sounds like – making the product seem more ‘green,’ or environmentally friendly. Cambridge defines greenwashing as the “behavior or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.” Greenwashing is different from green marketing, which is when companies are selling legitimately sustainable products (Business News Daily). Companies see that more consumers care about sustainable products and climate issues, so they take advantage by creating advertisements that use buzz words like ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘natural’ (EcoTree). Consumers see the advertisements and buy those products, not knowing what is really going on behind closed doors.  

As sustainability became popular, companies started to invest more money into ‘green projects,’ which is a great thing for the environment. However, some companies started to put money into environmental projects that do not have a positive impact, a practice that caused Friends of the Earth to create an annual greenwashing award (EcoTree). Issues like this will cause consumers to not trust companies or products that are labeled as ‘green.’ Therefore, sustainable corporations are afraid to label their products as sustainable due to accusations that would destroy consumer trust (Sea Going Green). 

One of the biggest and most recent examples of greenwashing is from Chevron. Between June 2020 and August 2021, Chevron aired over 4,000 ads about their new ‘sustainable’ brand. Over 80% of those ads used buzz words like ‘sustainable,’ ‘renewable,’ and ‘clean.’ Since 1965, Chevron has produced more than 43 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. In that one year time period, Chevron spent only $1 billion on environmental projects to create new forms of energy. This would seem like a lot, but when you compare it to the $240 billion worth of assets they reported in their 2020 annual report, it’s only a drop in the bucket (Rolling Stone). After all of this came to light, Chevron announced that they will spend $10 billion by 2028 on environmental projects (The Hill). Chevron is also part of a group that strongly opposes the Build Back Better Act, which is a $3.5 trillion spending bill from the Biden administration that includes a lot of policies to combat climate change (Rolling Stone).  

Oatly is another example of greenwashing. The popular oat milk brand is under fire for saying they are ‘sustainable’ when their practices in the United States do not reflect that. In July, Spruce Point Capital Management accused Oatly of spreading “Oat-LIES” (Fortune). They said that Oatly lied about how sustainable their product actually is, and that they selected certain data from their New Jersey plant. At the New Jersey plant, they use 55% more water per liter of oat base than the original plants in Sweden and the Netherlands. Spruce Point also accused Oatly of not being completely honest about the amount of CO2 emissions they generate from the transportation of oats from Canada to New Jersey (CNBC). 

As of Earth Day 2021, 6 companies or products had allegations of greenwashing – Banana Boat sunscreens, Dasani and other bottled water brands, Red Lobster, Allbirds running shoes, The Coca-Cola Company, and Hefty Recycling Bags. Banana Boat sunscreens has been accused of marketing their sunscreen as ‘reef friendly’ when they actually have ingredients that are harmful to marine species (Top Class Actions). Dasani and other bottled water brands market their products as ‘100% recyclable,’ when the plastic used for the caps as well as the label is not always recyclable (Sierra Club). Red Lobster was accused of marketing their Maine lobster as ‘sustainable’ when the suppliers use unsustainable and environmentally harmful practices (Food and Beverage Reporter). Allbirds running shoes used a tool that can’t assess every environmental impact, but they labeled the shoe as having a ‘low carbon footprint’ (Eco-Friendly, Truth in Advertising) The Coca-Cola Company marketed their brand as ‘sustainable and environmentally friendly,’ even though they generate the most plastic pollution in the world (Truth in Advertising). Lastly, Hefty Recycling Bags claimed to be ‘designed to handle all types of recyclables,’ even though the product could contaminate the potential recyclables (Top Class Actions, Truth in Advertising).  



So, how can you avoid greenwashing from those companies who aren’t being completely honest? You can do the research on each company to see if they are practicing what they preach. Ask yourself the following questions while you are doing your research. Lastly, you can look beyond the branding. Just because someone says they are environmentally friendly; it doesn’t mean they actually are (EcoTree). 



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